Letting out a long sigh because this really didn’t look like one of those problems that would magically solve itself in five minutes, I walked over to Chenghai and turned my back to him.

He automatically lifted his coffee out of the way before I leaned against his chest, one arm settling around my waist while the other continued protecting his cup like it contained the secret to human survival.

Honestly, after almost five months of the apocalypse and the two months before that, I had accepted that Zhou Chenghai probably needed caffeine in his bloodstream to remain legally classified as functional. I was actually surprised over the fact that he went the month plus without coffee when the survivors had taken over the house.

I think it almost classified as a miracle.

If coffee disappeared tomorrow, the zombies would become everyone else’s second biggest problem.

The man in the uniform standing near the bottom of my steps looked down at me, his face twisting in something that I wasn’t about to name.

Whether it was disapproval, disgust, or something else entirely, I really didn’t care enough about his opinion to figure it out.

Which honestly made the expression funnier considering there were currently hundreds of soldiers crawling all over my neighborhood, scientists trying to steal my house, and generators loud enough to wake the dead, but apparently me leaning against Chenghai was where this man personally drew the line of what was acceptable and what was not.

Talk about priorities.

"Who are you?" I asked, cocking my head slightly to the side.

"Colonel Wei Guang," he replied. "Northern Province Shocktroop Division."

His voice sounded different saying it. Sharper. More formal. Like he had suddenly remembered he was speaking in an official capacity instead of whatever conversation he and Chenghai had been having before I walked outside.

Apparently Chenghai noticed too because his arm tightened slightly around my waist.

"Oh," I said with a shrug. "Does that make you cannon fodder or someone who sends out cannon fodder?"

Lingyun immediately lost his fight with self-control and burst out laughing beside the door hard enough that I heard him smack the wall once.

I didn’t look away from Wei Guang.

The man’s glare sharpened instantly and the air around us shifted hard enough that I felt the metal nearby begin vibrating faintly.

One of the barricades farther down the street rattled softly while a parked military truck let out a sharp creak like something inside it had suddenly tightened under pressure.

Metal power user.

Got it.

Wei Guang visibly forced the reaction back down before dismissing me entirely and turning his attention toward Chenghai again.

"As I was saying—" he started, only to be interrupted a second time. Only this time, not by me.

"Colonel Wei, report."

Another man approached the porch slowly, strolling toward the house like he already owned the entire street and was simply deciding how much more of it he planned on taking.

I wrinkled my nose automatically before he even reached the bottom step as the smell of expensive cologne hit me hard enough to become offensive.

It was probably an expensive cologne, I really didn’t know what was cheap or expensive. But I drew the line when it smelled like the person had bathed in it.

Even the most expensive became cheap when that was the case. I did not want to have to taste the man from this distance.

Wei Guang snapped to attention so fast it almost looked painful. "General Sun, Sir," he said his face turning blank.

The older man gave a short nod before his eyes swept across the porch.

He was huge. Easily twice my size, probably twice my age if his grey hair was any indication, and carrying enough extra weight around his middle that I immediately knew this man had not missed a meal since the apocalypse started.

Back in the compounds, men with that much fat around their stomachs sold at a high price in the civilian markets. After all, people liked bacon no matter how dark their future was.

His gaze passed over me quickly before landing directly on Chenghai and Zhenlan, who had come out of the house after me, like I wasn’t worth acknowledging for longer than half a second.

Ah.

One of those.

"The scientists have completed their preliminary assessments," General Sun said calmly, his eyes narrowing on the house. "They believe this estate is the most suitable location for temporary research operations and centralized command."

Of course they did.

Apparently oversized mansions attracted military operations the same way outdoor lights attracted bugs.

"The research teams under my protection are among the most valuable minds remaining in the country," he continued. "Virologists. Biochemists. Neurologists. Genetic specialists. Their survival is a national priority."

I felt Chenghai’s arm tighten slightly again. "So I’ve heard," he replied dryly and I couldn’t help but snicker. Those minds didn’t manage to do jack shit in my last life, I didn’t see that changing just because they moved into my house.

"The scientists also significantly outnumber your household," General Sun added evenly. "Under normal circumstances, continuing to occupy a structure this size with so few people while essential personnel remain outside would be considered an unreasonable allocation of resources. Frankly, you should be grateful the military is willing to continue protecting this property instead of redistributing it entirely."

There it was.

The greater good speech.

I always found it funny how the people talking about sacrifice were almost never the ones expected to give anything up.

I stared at the General for another second before tilting my head back slightly to look at Zhenlan instead.

"You just had to build the biggest mansion on the block, huh?"

Zhenlan’s eyes flicked once toward the convoy spread across the street before returning to me.

"You’re right," he said calmly. "I’m sorry. I’ll learn for the next zombie apocalypse."

Lingyun burst out laughing again while I sighed dramatically and shook my head.

Typical rich people behavior.

Build the giant fancy mansion in the wealthiest subdivision and suddenly every government official in a fifty kilometer radius decided your house belonged to them during the apocalypse.

"We are taking this house," General Sun announced, apparently deciding the conversation had gone on long enough.

Like that hadn’t already been tried multiple times before. Maybe I should put him in contact with Commander Li so they could start a support group together.

"Yeah, no," I replied immediately, shaking my head. "We’re good."

The General finally looked directly at me again.

I waved vaguely toward whatever military nonsense was currently infecting my street. "You can do whatever you want out there, but, if you think for a single second you are walking into my house without my permission to do whatever you want...we are going to have issues."

Silence settled across the porch as all five men stared at me. But I was not backing down on this.

The outside was the outside. The inside was mine.

And I wasn’t going to give that up without good cause.